WANTON
WARD
57th congresses ami as cliairinan of the committee
on expeiulitiiies in the post-olfice department in
the .").")tli-"i7tli congresses.
WANTON, Joseph, colonial governor of Rhode Island, was born in Newport, R.I., Aug. 15, 1703; sou of William and Ruth (Bryant) Wanton; grandson of Edward and Elizabeth Wanton, and of John Bryant of Scituate, R.I. Edward Wan- ton emigrated from England to Boston, ^^lass., prior to 1658, and having become a Quaker, re- moved to Scituate in ICGl. where he established a shipyard and founded a Friends' society. He died in 1716. William Wanton (1670-1733), became a member of the Cliurch of England; captured, with his brother John, a French armed sliip in 1697, for which exploit he received an addition to his family coat of arms, and other honors from Queen Anne; established a shipyard in Ports- mouth, R.I., 1702; commanded as captain the brigantine Greyhound in the war against France and Spain; removed to Newport, R.I., 1703; was speaker of the liouse of deputies for eight years, and governor of the colony of Rhode Island, 1732-
33, his brother John being deputy-governor, 1729-
34, and governor, 1734-40. Joseph Wanton was graduated from Harvard college, A.B., 1751, A.M., 1754; subsequently engaged with marked success in mercantile pursuits in Newport, R.I.; was lieu- tenant-governor of the colony, 1764-67, and gov- ernor from 1769 until 1775, when his re-election was opposed by the general assembly on the ground that he had protested against the passage of the resolution providing for an " Array of Ob- servation." The office of governor was declared vacant from June to October, 1775, when Deputy- Governor Natlianiel Cooke was appointed Gov- ernor Wanton's successor. He married Mary, daughter of John Still Winthrop of New London, Conn. The honorary degree of A.M. was con- ferred upon him by Brown university in 1769, of which university he served as trustee, 1764-76. He died in Newport, R.I., July 19, 1780.
WARD, Aaron, representative, was born in Sing Sing, N.Y., July 5, 1790. He attended Mt. Pleasant academy. New York, and subsequently studied law until his appointment as lieutenant in the 20th U.S. infantry. May 20, 1813, partici- pating in General Hampton's attempt to take Montreal, and was promoted captain May 6, 1814, serving on the frontier until the close of the war, when he again took up the study of law with a Mr. Van Derlen of Oxford, N.Y. He was admit- ted to the bar; commenced practice in Sing Sing, and wa-s married in 1820 to a daughter of Elkanah Watson (q.v.) of Albany, N.Y., making his home in Mt. Pleasant. He was district attorney for Westchester county, N.Y., and a Democratic representative from New York in the 19tli, 20th, 22il-34th and 27tli congresses, serving. 1825-29,
1831-37 and 1841-43. He was successively com-
missioned colonel, brigadier-general and major-
general of New York militia, holding the latter
commission. 1835-53; was a member of the state
constitutional convention of 1846; visited Europe,
1853-54, and was the unsuccessful Democratic
candidate for the secretaryship of New York in
1855. One of his daughters married Samuel J.
Randall (q.v.), representative: another married
Thoma.s Swann (q.v.), and a third married John
R. Thomson (q.v.), U. S. senator. General W^ard
is the author of: Around the Pyramids (1863).
He died in Georgetown, D.C., March 2, 1867.
WARD, Artemas, soldier, was born in Shrews- bury, Mass., Nov. 27, 1727; son of Col. Nahum and Martha (How) Ward; grandson of William and Hannah (Eames) Ward and of Daniel How, and great-grandson of William of Sudbury, Mass., as early as 1639, who was made freeman, 1643, and was a founder of Marlborough, Mass., 1660, where he died, Aug. 10, 1687. Nahum Ward followed the seas in early life; was a pro- prietor and one of the first settlers of Shrews- burj^ Mass., which town he represented in the general court, and of which he was a magistrate, and was justice of the court of common pleas for Worcester county from 1745 until his death in
1754. Artemas Ward graduated from Harvard A.B., 1748, A.M., 1751; was elected a member of of the Massachusetts legislature and subsequently of the common council, and appointed a justice of the peace of Shrewsbury in 1752. He was married, July 31, 1750, to Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Caleb and Hannah (Walter) Trowbridge of Groton, Mass., and granddaughter of the Rev. Increase Mather (q.v.). He joined the expedition of Col. Abraham W^illiams to Lake George in
1755, serving as major of the 3d regiment; held the same rank under Col. W^illiam Williams in the general invasion of Canada in 1758; partici- pated as lieutenant-colonel in General Abercrom- bie's expedition in 1759, and afterward succeeded to the command of the 3d regiment, but was de- prived of his commission because of his persis- tence in giving military and political instruction to his troops. He was a justice of the court of common pleas in 1702; appointed a member of the governor's council in 1768, but his appoint- ment was negatived by the governor; a member of the state legislature for several years, his ser- vice ending in 1774; a delegate to the Provincial congress of Massachusetts, by which he was com- missioned brigadier-general of the Massachusetts forces, Oct. 27, 1774, and conimander-in-chief. May 19, 1775, making his headquarters in Cam- bridge, where he collected 10.000 armed men. The committee of safety having voted on the 15th of June to take possession of Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights, General Ward on the
